


Mad Girl's Love Song

by lolnothanksfam



Category: Killing Eve (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Student/Teacher, F/F, I'm Bad At Tagging
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:42:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24514051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lolnothanksfam/pseuds/lolnothanksfam
Summary: "I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead;I lift my lids and all is born again.(I think I made you up inside my head.)The stars go waltzing out in blue and red,And arbitrary blackness gallops in:I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead." - Sylvia Plath's "Mad Girl's Love Song"___Teacher/Student AU no one asked for
Relationships: Eve Polastri/Villanelle | Oksana Astankova
Comments: 4
Kudos: 63





	1. Good Riddance

In hindsight, Eve probably should have seen this coming. It was inevitable that they would get caught at some point. They were too reckless, too _careless_. And now she had to deal with the consequences while Oksana…

_ She wasn’t even sure she wanted to know what she was up to. _

\----

Eve Polastri remembers the first time she’d met Villanelle as clear as day. It wasn’t everyday that you got a new student so close to the end of the year- especially not one that the staff had to have an official meeting about. Dr. Frank Haleton, the stocky bearded man who also happened to be principal, stood in front of a mass of staff to give a powerpoint about accepting new students for who they were. It was a change from protocol, odd since P. W. Bridge Academy as a small private school that fully catered to the bliss of ignorance when it came to inclusion in the classroom. Eve hadn’t believed in it, but no teacher was ever fired over such a thing as ignoring a student’s background. 

The first time Eve Polastri had met Villanelle Aksankova, it was the student’s freshman year. She was one of those kids that transferred mid-year, the ones that kind of faded into the background of the class and never spoke much. And even when she did speak, it was with a heavy Russian accent that made it a little hard to understand her at times. She was smart, too smart for her own good. Her papers were spot on, if not a little apathetic and Eve had to break up verbal spats between her and the other students on many occasions when class discussions became too controversial. 

Villanelle wasn’t someone to underestimate, and she loathed being touched by anyone. But she did her homework, didn't speak to anyone else. She just.. existed. 

Eve had been her English teacher funnily enough, but suppose for a lack of time with the end of the year quickly approaching she hadn’t taken the time to properly get to know the young woman. And so, they both went on their separate ways and the next year Eve was transferred to the counseling department of the school on account of her midsummer pregnancy announcement. It was less face-time with students and more paperwork, but apart from the obligatory schedule meeting at the end of each year, they didn’t speak to one another.

But Eve did observe Villanelle from afar, as she did all of her former students. She watched the young woman return the next year with an english accent rivaling her schoolmates in accuracy and a more demure go about her uniform choices. She even made a friend or two and was well on track to graduate on time, if not early. 

Villanelle was also exceptional at French, reflected by her grades. Mrs. Leonova was known to grade lightly, but a constant 100 in the class called for congratulations. Eve had disliked French in school, she’d opted for Spanish so she could take the summer class trip to Spain and see the world. It was easy and basically English so she’d earned a passing grade. 

____

It was the end of the girl’s junior year when Eve and Villanelle’s three year of radio silence had ended rather abruptly. It was the middle of the afternoon on a Wednesday and Eve had just returned from a conference with some meat-headed jock who couldn’t pass his classes to save his life. 

Eve had found her in the women's bathroom outside her office sobbing into her hands on the floor. It was loud and dramatic, almost as if she wanted someone to spot her but with how distraught she was there was no way it was intentional.

They say that heartbreak sounds like guitar strings snapping.. and if it were true, then Villanelle's heartbreak would have crippled a whole orchestra. Eve wasn't sure if she was prepared for this situation, college visits and make up credits were more her forte. Maybe there was a pamphlet for the girl in her office somewhere “How to deal with Break-ups 101” or something. 

Eve watched the young girl, awkwardly as ever, wrenched her hands and closed the door to the restroom. In a moment of weakness she eyed the lock on the door. With a quiver in her hands, she locked it. "Villanelle?"

The young student was sitting against the wall with her knees pulled up to her chest. The student looked so small and fragile from her spot, make up running down her cheeks and eyes puffy from crying large tears. Eve wondered what boy had broken her heart, how he'd done it. She’d seen many breakups in the halls over the years, it was an essential part of high school. But Eve hadn’t even been aware that she had been dating. 

Villanelle barely even glanced in Eve’s direction, only cried harder into her hands.

_ This is bad,  _ Eve commented to herself, moving to join Villanelle on the floor. “I…” she began, but fell short. She didn’t quite know what to say to the young girl. She'd had her heart broken once in high school. His name was Adam and he'd ended up leaving her over something stupid that all these years Eve couldn't bring herself to remember. Maybe it had something to do with her father being over protective? Or accidental food poisoning on her part? Who knew. The counselor took an extra glance at the girl and all at once quickly realized she was perhaps too ill-experienced to deal with the situation so instead she just placed a hand over Villanelle’s and prayed it would be enough.

Apparently it wasn't. As if she were shocked by the touch, the girl beside her suddenly paused in her weeping as if she hadn’t been crying at all. Five seconds later she turned and plopped her head into Eve’s lap, resuming with the crocodile tears all the same. How odd. Eve’s eyes widened, hesitantly placing a hand on her shoulder to stroke her arm. What else was she supposed to do? “It’s okay,” she cooed softly, letting the girl cry it out.

The counselor let this continue for some time, until Villanelle was only sniffling into her lap. “You know.. I have some tissues in my office if you’d like to move there.” She offered lightly, stroking her shoulder but the girl remained still until all the tears were dry from her face. She picked herself up, seemingly embarrassed by her own actions. “I’m sorry Mrs. Polastri.. I don’t know what came over me..” she apologized, her accent morphing back to its original russian drawl, with puffy cheeks and red eyes . 

Eve studied her for a moment, the total distraught look in her eyes almost broke her own heart. “You know.. I have no idea who hurt you but you wanna know what I say? Fuck em. Bring them hell. Boys can be such jerks.”

_____

Later that evening the staff was pulled into an emergency meeting after hours to discuss dark allegations against a fellow teacher of theirs. The library was full of hushed whispers and shifty eyes from teacher to teacher. 

Eve hadn’t seen the news article but she’d heard about it from Elena who had heard the whispers in her department.  _ Science teachers were nothing if not gossips. _

There was foul-play in the teaching staff at P. W. Bridge Academy. She could spot Niko on the other side of the library with a grave look on his face. 

When Bill, the well respected vice principal, entered the library there was a sigh of relief that spread through the staff. Soon after he was followed by an older looking woman with short hair. She looked remarkable, soft skin and eyes. Eve was.. well, a little jealous of it. 

“Evening folks, I know this isn’t something we look forward to but I felt it was better if we addressed this head on and face to face. Frank’s mother, as you all know, is ill so he could not be here tonight but he sends his regards and trusts me to debrief everyone on the situation at hand.” He eyed the crowd with that straight face of his, eyes finding Eve’s kindly. 

“First I would like to introduce Carolyn Martens, she’s our new school Social Worker that has been provided by the board.” 

There was a hesitant round of applause for the woman who merely regarded the crowd before returning to the stack of papers in her arms. 

“Now, I’m sure many of you here have heard rumors and I am here to regrettably tell you that they are true. There have been serious allegations made by a student of ours that she has been involved in an inappropriate relationship with a teacher. The student who shall be both nameless and blameless, has submitted a substantial amount of evidence to the school board and because of this we have had to let Mrs. Leonova go. The safety of our students has been our number one priority since day one and…” the words falling from Bill’s mouth started to fall away as Eve began to deconstruct her afternoon with Villanelle in the bathrooms. Eve thought she might puke. 

____

It could have been a coincidence. It probably wasn’t. 

It probably definitely wasn’t. 

_____

“Good riddance,” Niko had said once, at a bar the next week with all of their work friends, “We don’t need that kind of trash at our school.. relationship with a  _ student _ ,” he scoffed, smoothing down his mustache before he took another sip of his beer.

They’d met Eve’s second year of teaching English, his Algebra class had been conveniently placed across from her in the hall. One afternoon he’d asked her for coffee and knocked her up two years later. She did love him, he was her husband and that had to count for something. He was caring and attentive and a wonderful dad. 

Despite this, Eve was suddenly beginning to realize why adults had midlife crises.

“Don’t you think so Eve?” Niko had asked a blank staring Eve who’d suddenly blinked to life, “Ye- Yeah!” She agreed a little too eagerly, a little too easily. 

She wasn't sure what she thought, honestly. She remembered the Christmas Staff party when Anna had brought her newly-wedded husband. They were nauseating with how cute they were and Eve wasn't sure she could see the woman pursuing a student when she was so obviously in love. Or thought she was in love, Eve reminds herself, glancing at her own husband. 

\----

When Eve saw Villanelle over the summer it was as if she was slapped in the face with a bottle of vodka. It was in a Whole Foods of all places, the lithe teenager was arguing with a man in the middle of the pasta aisle in Russian. Eve had missed her accent, in a strange way. 

The two had stopped bickering as soon as Villanelle had spotted her, throwing a smile on in greeting. “Oh Mrs. Polastri! Hi,” she greeted, accent morphing in her mouth back to an English one. The man beside her grumbled for a moment before slapping her in the back of the head. 

“Use your maiden tongue, it’s not good for you too.. adapt like this,” he warned, waving a finger at the teenager who merely snapped at his fingers with her teeth. 

“Villanelle, how’s your summer going?” Eve asked with a smile, wondering if she tilted her head to a certain degree that it would make it look like she cared more. 

“Good. Boring as ever.” Her accent back to its original state, with an added eye roll to the end. 

Eve chuckled kindly, “I suppose that’s better than a bad summer. I always spent my summers with my extended family in Korea.” she revealed, turning to the portly man beside her dressed in a black sweatshirt and jeans. “Please excuse my rudeness, are you Villanelle’s father?” Eve had asked, instantly acknowledging the way Villanelle had tensed beside him at the word.

The man let out a surprised chuckle at the question, “Oh no, not at all. I’m her uncle- I’ve been acting as her guardian while she gets a quality education.” He explained with a smile that didn’t quite meet his eyes and an overemphasis on the last line. 

Eve was about to respond when Villanelle immediately cut in to interrupt the conversation, “Hate to chat and run but we have a show on in a half hour. Season finale.”

The teacher smiled, “Ah I see. Well then, I should let you get to it then huh? I’ll see you in August Ms. Vasiliev.”

___

Carolyn Martens had unexpectedly approached Eve one morning when she was at the park with her kids two weeks before school let in. With Niko, Eve had two kids, Mattie, a shy five year old mother's boy with his father's eyes and a kind soul, and Ali, a strong willed girl at the age of three who was, to the shock of every family member,  _ blonde _ . Sure, Niko's mother had been blonde, but it didn't stop the questions from mother's who thought they knew everything. When Carolyn approached them, even her eyes had widened momentarily at the sight of the three of them. 

"Good afternoon Eve, I trust your summer has been well?" She asked, not looking at her directly from the bench they were on. 

"It has been, we-"

Carolyn sighed, "I'm not really here for small talk. Vasiliev, how much do you know about her?"

"Me? Well.. she was my student about three years ago. Back when I was still teaching English. She was a good kid," Eve shrugged, "bright, a little opinionated, really really good at research essays. She had an accent so strong that sometimes we had to fake acknowledge the things she said, but the way she said them proved she was smart. She wasn't untruthful if that's what you're asking." Eve eyed the social worker, "I don't want to be pushed to say things I don't mean to say." She added.

Carolyn nodded, ".. that's what I thought. Over the summer I've been trying to get to know her, usually our investigations stop once the teacher is removed but.. her uncle seems to think something is wrong with her, with the way she's behaving. But she's healthy, she has a boyfriend- a nice boy, she seems to have a friend or too as well.. I just don't know why she refuses to speak to me."

Eve watched as Mattie played chicken with his little sister on the swing set, ducking under her legs when she swung towards him. He was going to get a black eye.. "Mattie! Be careful!" She called out to him, nervously clutching the arm of the bench. 

“You used to be an English teacher?” Carolyn inquiried. Eve nodded, “Oh yes. I was head of the department too. But I got pregnant with Alice and wanted to keep working during my third trimester so Bill moved me to counseling.” 

“And you never moved back?” It wasn’t a question. There was something unspoken behind the social worker’s eyes. Judgement? Awkwardness? Eve felt as though she were scheming right before her eyes. "Do you usually take student aides during the year?"

"I do..” Eve answered skeptically, “but they're normally early grads who just need to fill their schedule with something." 

"Look Eve, I'm not going to force you to do this because I feel like it's shoveling the load of my job onto someone else. And I like my job. So instead, I'm going to ask. Do you think you could take her for a period or two and.. assess her? She trusts you.. I think. Just get to know her, let her help you prepare graduation, run errands. Keep her busy.."

"Okay.. well, why would Villanelle trust me?" 

"I'm not sure.. but she did mention you by name-" The sentence was punctuated by the sound of Mattie being kicked in the face by his sister, and then the inevitable cries that followed.

___

In hindsight, the conversation with Niko could have probably gone better. Maybe she could have explained the situation better, or chosen an occasion that wasn’t in front of the kids.

Mattie, who was still sporting two toddler-sized foot shaped bruises in the center of his face and the cusp of a black eye, was animatedly telling his father of his day through a bite of broccoli. Niko, smiling at him, nodding along- “Yeah dad! And then we went to go get ice cream and mom let me get TWO scoops!”

“Two scoops huh kiddo?!” He met Eve’s eyes over the table with a playful look in his eyes, the look that made Eve remember how good of a father he was. Eve hummed in response over a sip of her wine, eyes drifting towards Ali who was really making a mess of her chicken nuggets- it was a phase she was going through, if she didn’t have something dinosaur or minion shaped, she just would not eat it. Appeasement seemed to be the parenting strategy that worked best for now. “So when we were at the park, you’ll never guess who we ran into..” Eve began, taking a bite of her upsettingly not dinosaur shaped chicken.

“Who? Was it Steve? Because I’ve had a word with him and-“

“No, no. It wasn’t Steve, although one of these days you’ll find out I’m right about him being gay. No, I saw Carolyn, the new social worker? She’s handling Villanelle’s case.”

“Still? I thought that was over and done with. It’s been.. What? Three months?”

“Mommy? What does gay mean?” Ali piped up from her spot, dipping a sticky finger into her ketchup. Niko sighed, motioning with her hand for her to parent this whilst he turned to their son. “Well baby girl, gay is a word used for people who like others of the same gender. Like Tyson’s fathers, a boy loving another boy.” The little blonde scrunched up her face at the description, gears turning in her head before she proclaimed, “I think I’m gay.” Eve let out an alarmed laugh and patted the child on the head, “Let’s wait until you’re a bit older, eh Love bug?”

“Anyway, I thought the case would’ve been long over too but apparently Villanelle’s been.. acting strange lately- stranger than normal I should say.”

Niko nodded thoughtfully, “I see. I guess that would make sense, I can’t imagine how messed up I’d be if I were approached by someone like.. that vile woman.”

“You see, but I’m starting to wonder if anything actually happened, the charges were never finalized.” Eve speculated, “And besides, Anna was a sweet woman- ridiculously in love with her husband.. what was his name? Maxim?”

Niko’s eyes narrowed suddenly and his mustache twitched the way it did when he was annoyed,, “Eve.. she’s a child predator. Or at the very least, she very well could be one.” He gruffed, “Geez, you’re the only person I know who would try and sympathize with someone like that.. all things considered.”

Eve’s blood ran cold, fixing Niko with a glare. He didn’t have the right for that one…

“Well.. it doesn’t matter.” Eve told him decidedly, “Carolyn asked me to change Villanelle’s schedule so she could be my aide, apparently she thinks that since I was her teacher once I could get her to- I don’t know.. open up?” 

“I’m not sure you should get involved Eve, it’s very nice that you want to but you don’t owe her anything.”

“It’s my job to get involved- both of ours. We’re teachers Niko.” Eve deadpanned.

Niko nodded and put his hands up in surrender, “I’m just asking.. Okay?”

\---

It wasn’t until Carolyn called her with the details did Eve really think about all the facts she didn’t know about the teenager. She knew she’d immigrated from Russia- presumably with her uncle, but she had no idea about the story behind it. According to the file that was sent over, or at least what Eve could make out of the blurbs which weren’t redacted for her safety, was that Villanelle’s father had been imprisoned just before she graduated the seventh grade for crimes against the mother country. After that she’d been placed in the sole custody of her mother and step father for two years until an incident caused her to move in with her Uncle. 

The files also held records of her grades from the last three years of high school. Eve already had a record of them, but the highlighted grades from a certain French class were suddenly nauseating. Followed were observations made by Carolyn from her notes: 

Villanelle Vasiliev doesn’t respond to authority, seems to believe she can run her own life.

Villanelle has horrible eating habits, ate a whole pizza and did not offer to share.

Vasiliev is out until odd hours of the night. 

They were normal teenage quirks she supposed, but not for the girl she’d met her freshman year. 

Perhaps she’d given in to the peer pressure. 

“You should think about returning to your old position, Eve.” Carolyn had mentioned over the phone in a tone that was less of a suggestion and more of an order. “I think you’ll find it’ll only help our cause.”

__

Convincing Bill was no walk in the park but it definitely wasn’t as hard as telling Niko.

Bill had looked confused, peering up at her from the rim of his bright blue margarita while they sat in their favorite Mexican joint in the city. “Eve, aren’t you the one who routinely comes into my office every Monday to complain about our student body?” 

“Yeah? So?” Eve shrugs, shoving a chip in her mouth, “I just miss teaching alright?!”

“I thought you were happy in the counseling department? You and your colleagues got along well. Does Niko know about this?”

Eve wrung her hands together guiltily, “No not yet. I didn’t want to tell him until it was..”

“All over and done with?” Bill finished, giving her an unimpressed look, “Keiko thinks he needs to quit trying to control you. And shave that god awful moustache.” 

The asian woman raised an eyebrow knowingly, “Keiko has never been so judgemental before. Are you sure it's her who thinks that?”

“You’d be surprised. Besides, I’m not at liberty to comment on members of my faculty. You know this,” he tutted into a sip of his margarita. Eve rolled her eyes, “Besides.. It's not only me who wants me to go back to teaching. Ca-” 

Eve was interrupted by the waitress bringing their food, the obviously tired and overworked girl sparing them no glances as she placed the food before them. “Carolyn Martens visited me this summer and suggested it.”

There was a sudden clang and Eve looked up to realize Bill had dropped his fork straight to the floor. He gave a nervous glance to the waiter, “Ah, could I get some more silverware please?” He asked before turning back to Eve.

“Eve. I’m going to tell you this and I’m only going to say it once. You do not want to get involved.”

“What? Why not?!” The waitress returned with the cutlery but Eve intercepted the fork before her friend could, holding the offending metal object high over her head. “What do you know Bill?” She demanded, holding her gaze steady.

The two held a staring contest for a few long seconds before eventually the man caved, “Okay fine!” he relented, grabbing the fork out of the air and stabbing his enchilada unceremoniously. “I’m not legally allowed to tell you anything substantial and this isn’t like earlier either. This is.. well, it's more important than your marriage for sure.”

“Bill.” Eve warned.

“Look, all I’m going to say is.. doesn’t the name Villanelle Vasiliev sound a little suspicious? Made up?” 

Bill cut into his meal then, as if the previous conversation had never happened while Eve digested the information. 

\---

The newfound information sat at the forefront of her mind and carried all the way into her house, tipsy on margaritas and perhaps the coolest thing to happen to her since she’d become a teacher. She climbed the stairs of her silent flat and found herself in the archway of her room. Niko was heard somewhere in the house- presumably Matthew’s room given the time, doing bedtime. 

With a relieved sigh, Eve began to disrobe, kicking her shoes off and shrugging off her sweater. Tiptoeing out of her pants she found herself merely tossing on an oversized shirt to cover herself in case one of her children came to wake her up in the middle of the night. 

Witness protection? How much of the story was left out of the files Eve had on Villanelle? Conspiracy theories danced around inside her head while she removed her makeup, made her wonder if she’d made the right decision as she brushed her teeth.

By the time she slipped into bed she was practically manic about the idea, but still she slipped her eye mask over her eyes and attempted to get some sleep. 

She was half asleep by the time Niko joined her, tripping over her shoes. “You’ve never been very tidy you know,” he mused, eliciting a groan from her lips. With an annoyed twitch of her hands she slipped the mask off her head to watch her husband strip off his shirt and pants. 

“It's my calling card. Otherwise how would you have known it was me in our bed and not some tramp?” Eve replied sleepily, offering a small smile. 

“By the smell I suppose,” he replied but Eve only hummed non-committedly.

She closed her eyes again, ready to drift off when he paraded into their connected bathroom and began his nightly routine. 

“Eve?” Niko asked her with a mouthful of toothpaste just as she reached sleep. “Yes Niko?”

“Do you know what our son told me tonight?” he asked, and Eve hummed in response without opening her eyes. “He said he wants to be a doctor when he grows up. And a superhero. A superhero doctor, our Mattie.” He spit the leftover toothpaste into the bowl. 

Eve rolled this information around in her head for a moment. “I think I saw him pick his nose the other day and eat it. He’s going to have to learn to be more hygienic before he could step foot in a hospital.” She joked. 

“Perhaps it’ll make bath time run smoother,” Niko agreed, wiping off his face. 

Eve sighed and allowed her mind to go blank again.

“Eve?” 

“Yes Niko?”

“Let's have another.” 

“What?!” Her eyes flew open, body turning to get an eyeful of Niko as naked as the day he was born and standing in the doorway eagerly. “Oh god- Niko!” She scolded, trying to look anywhere but his member which was out in the open. 

“Come on, let's do it!” He encouraged, stepping towards the bed to climb in on top of her. Eve squirmed, settling a hand on his chest to keep him at bay while he attempted to shower kisses over her forehead. “I want another.”

“I thought we both agreed two is enough.”

“Yes, we agreed two years ago that two kids was enough but now Alice is mostly potty trained. It's the perfect time!” 

“Do you really want more kids Niko?” Eve questioned, accepting a kiss upon her lips, but keeping his lower half away from poking her thighs. She was nothing if not suggestable to a naked man, but this required a real conversation first. 

“I had three brothers and two sisters growing up, can you blame me for wanting a large family?” 

Eve decided that she couldn’t, craning her neck to allow him access to her jaw and neck. But Eve, who grew up with no brothers and no sisters, couldn’t really find sense in the appeal. Two was enough. She loved her two. Why would she want more than two? 

“No, but you’re not the one who has to carry the child. You know how I get with pregnancy hormones.” She deflected, the hand on his chest suddenly becoming more compliant. “I think you’re rather charming when you’re crying and screaming like that actually. It’s like my wife’s on drugs but I don’t have to worry about a life of addiction after,”

Eve scoffed, using her free hand to curl around his cheek. Shit. She was losing her resolve. She didn’t want another kid, didn’t want to pretend like she did. “Besides, now isn’t a good time. I had dinner with Bill tonight remember? Seems Jess is pregnant. He offered me my old job back.”

Like he was scalded by a hot iron, Niko suddenly pulled back to look straight at Eve. “What?” He roared, “That… that utter ass! Doesn’t he know you’re happy? That we are happy? There’s only two weeks until the start of term!” 

Eve watched him cover himself before he started to pace. “We? This isn’t about us. It’s about my career. I miss teaching!” She argued. 

“But you were happy as a counselor-”

“-I was okay as a counselor. The only reason I switched positions is because we thought my pregnancy with Alice was going to be as complicated as Mattie’s. I never intended to stay a counselor.” Eve interrupted. “Besides,” she sighed, “I already accepted the position. I’m a teacher, just like you. I don’t want to sit on the sidelines anymore.” 

Her husband stood and stared at her, which would probably be more intimidating if he wasn’t naked. If he wasn’t half aroused. He strained to swallow, a vein bulging in his neck at the motion. 

“I’m sleeping on the couch tonight.” 

\---

Eve arrived early to school the first morning of the new school year at P. W. Bridge Academy at the 6:30 mark. She had just under two hours to transfer her essentials from her old office into her new room which, thankfully, was not across from Niko’s classroom and was instead an old emptied science lab located on the edge between the science and the history classes. It was large and had its own office located in the back. 

“Well you are the department head now,” Bill reasoned over the phone when he called to check in. Eve was supposed to have visited the school the week prior to set up her classroom but with a fourteen day silent streak between her and Niko plus two sick children she just couldn’t find time to go in. (Alice had fallen ill first, a forty-eight hour virus that was aggravated by Mattie who was full-force into his doctor phase and quickly found himself sick just as his sister was beginning to feel better) 

The halls were silent as she made her way to her old office in the darkened corner of school. The words “Counseling Corner” were etched in bright colors over the doorways in contrast to the darkness of the corner 

Eve had been one of two counselors at the academy, there was Eve who was experienced and older , and then the younger (and more popular) Kenny. Eve had grown fond of the boy who had been hired at the start of the past year. He was respectful and brought a lot of fresh ideas to the plate. 

A blue light under another office wasn’t surprising to the teacher, who opened the door without even truly thinking about it. “Getting some last minute schedules printed Kenny?” She hummed, expecting to see the freshman counselor at his desk. He was young and popular with the kids, but that didn’t mean that the first week of school wasn’t hell for him too.

Peering inside she wasn’t met with the child-like face of her colleague, but the full mooned butt of a student!

“Oh my god,” Eve gasped, as the two students scrambled for clothes.

She took a step back in pure shock, mouth agape, hand over her lips as if it would mask the sight of.. of fucking course, Villanelle Vasiliev’s bare ass. “Shit, sorry Mrs. Polastri,” the girl apologized half-heartedly, pulling her shirt on, no bra.

Eve wasn’t sure what to be more focused on, the estranged Liverpool accent Villanelle had tried to pull, the boobs of the girl, or the fact that it wasn’t even seven in the morning and someone had the energy to do anything other than sleep.

“Oh my god.” Eve repeated, still not quite sure what to do.

Villanelle rolled her eyes, grabbing the hand of her partner (the boyfriend), and sauntered past Eve in the door-way. “See you later,” she purred, winking. 


	2. You seniors are the worst

“So you’re telling me,”

“Mhm.”

“That you found Villanelle… f-..f-..”

“Fucking, yes.”

“In my office? At..” Kenny checked his wrist watch, “half six in the morning?”

“Yep.”

There was a silence, “And you didn’t.. write her up?”

Honestly it hadn’t occurred to Eve, she blamed it on still being in shock. “God Kenny, I meant to but… I just keep thinking about how weird she was being.. I think..”

Kenny stomped his foot impatiently, “You think it was a cry for help? There’s a moist spot on  _ My Desk _ ! I have meetings to conduct today! ” He huffed. Eve groaned, running a hand through her hair, “I don’t know Kenny just.. cut her some slack. Don’t.. Don’t write her up. Don’t tell Bill. Not yet. I want to talk to her.”

The younger man filled his cheeks with air, still upset. Kenny seemed to have something else to say to her but within mere moments something shifted in his eyes. “Okay.. but you’re going to clean up the mess.”

___

She in fact did not clean up the mess because they were interrupted by Jess who seemed to feel as awkward about her change in title as Eve first had. 

“I know I can get the hang of this, how hard could it be?” the pregnant woman said, voice high with anxiety while Eve merely hummed in reply and attempted to collect her secret stash of sweets she kept in the back of the closet. 

“I mean I know this school in and out, I know these children like the back of my hand,” Jess ranted, “So it shouldn’t scare me that I have the power to influence their futures right?” 

There was a fumble in the closet and the noise of objects falling off their shelves, “Aha!” Eve exclaimed, returning into view with a bag of sweets and a few other “necessary” objects nestled in the crooks of her arms. When her head popped out of the closet she met the horrified gaze of Jess and sheepishly looked down at her hoard. 

“Look, the job isn’t that deep,” Eve began, unloading her objects into the adjacent cardboard box that held more of her desk objects. “Most of the seniors already know what they’re doing with their lives. The only thing you need to do for the juniors is make sure they know that there are more options than just college.” 

The black woman seemed to be at least calmed by this, a hand perched carefully over her stomach. The gesture made Eve swallow hard, suddenly remembering the other night with Niko, but most importantly her first pregnancy. 

“Is this going to be your first?”

“Yeah. A girl.” Jess replied with a fond smile while looking down at her stomach. 

Eve nodded awkwardly, suddenly feeling very guilty. 

“Y’know, I don’t have an introductory lesson plan for today yet. Figured I’d just make it up on the spot but if you give me a lesson plan I can handle the schedule switches for today while Kenny brings you up to speed.” 

“You don’t have a- I mean. You would do that?” Jess quickly corrected, giving her an unsure look but Eve merely shrugged, “I was in your shoes once.”

___

As it turned out, Eve hadn’t been given a full schedule from Bill. Out of eight periods she had five classes. She’d been given an introductory game by Jess but as she’d realized the tables and chairs she’d ordered had in fact not arrived, she had no choice but to just let the kids sit on the floor and simply ask their names and supply them the list of books they would need for the term. 

Her first class was during second period, a freshman English course where all the kids were bright eyed and eager, but as her day progressed and her students got older the look in their eyes dulled ever so slightly. It was disheartening to see, so Eve merely let them have the room to themselves to talk to friends while she sorted out schedule mishaps in the back at her desk.

The desk was an unsightly thing with various stains and definitely not in its’ original color while the chair creaked at every slight movement on her part. “Rumor has it that the last person to teach in this room burnt her hand with acid,” Elena had supplied helpfully when she’d come to visit Eve sometime during first period. 

“That’s ridiculous. I’ve worked here longer than you have,” Eve replied with a roll of her eyes, but still avoided the eroding stain on the right of the desk like the plague. 

It wasn’t until fifth period when Villanelle waltzed into her office in a ceremonious fashion, bursting through the door and plopping her backpack onto the floor. “I’m here,” she announced in her faux British accent, causing Eve to peer up from her computer screen.

“Uh uh uh,” Eve started with a shaking finger, “Go apologize to Mr. Stowton.  _ Then  _ come back here for your assignment.” She ordered, effectively stopping the student in her tracks. Villanelle stared at her for a minute before huffing and moodily stomping next door.

Eve rolled her eyes, finishing up the last of her papers. Her phone vibrated beside her,

**Niko**

Thai Food tonight? I’ll buy

It was an olive branch, and considering the past two weeks of radio silence the branch was the size of Texas. Eve debated her response in her head for a moment.

**Eve**

Thanks, you are a saint. 

Villanelle walked back in not a moment later, “He was playing a video game,” she complained, as if she were offended by the mere idea. Eve just shrugged, “Freshmen are easy to deal with. You seniors are the worst.”

Villanelle hummed, looking to take a seat in front of her desk but found no chair, “That reminds me, I didn’t sign up to be an aide.”

Eve leaned back in her own chair which creaked under her weight, pulling her feet up onto the desk, “I know. But I need the help sometimes and you had an open period.” Eve lied. Actually it had taken some extra shuffling, but the English teacher had found a way to make it work without looking too obvious.

The young russian girl raised an eyebrow, “So this isn’t out of pity?” she asked, although her tone proved to show she didn’t entirely believe it. Eve shook her head.

“Nope. In fact, there’s a stack of papers in the printer waiting to be handed out to students if you’d like to get a head start.” She flashed the blonde a meek smile. She grabbed a sticky note to write a hall pass. When she handed the slip of paper to the girl, she only glanced at it before going off to do her duties.

___

“What’s all this?” Villanelle asked near the end of the period, facing her bookshelf (the only other piece of furniture in the room).

All of her favorite books rested on the desk, mixed in with the ones she used for course material. “Oh, those are my books. I like to read whenever I have the time. I am an English teacher after all,” Eve commented airly from her spot at her computer- someone wanted all seven of their classes changed?! That was almost criminal!

Villanelle traced the spines of the books with her fingers, “Could I take one?”

Eve nodded absent-mindedly, “Huh? Oh yeah.. Sure.”

A knock at the door alerted both of them to look at the door where Niko was standing, hands in his pockets. “Oh, ah, Eve!” He looked a little nervous, eyeing Villanelle in the corner. “Villanelle,” he nodded politely.

Both females turned to look at Eve’s husband, who seemed to have forgotten what he was going to say. Eve cleared her throat to snap him out of it before it got awkward.

“Did we ever decide who was going to go pick up the kids from daycare?”

They had not. 

“No. We hadn’t.” She answered briskly, eyes moving back down to her computer screen while Niko did his predictable little Niko dance. He would put a hand on his hip, narrow his eyes, sigh heavily, and admit defeat. 

Once his little charade was over Eve looked back up, “They haven’t seen Kenny in a while, I’ll bribe him into picking them up? I have to make sure my tables and chairs were ordered and the paint comes in today sometime after school that I have to be here for.” 

Niko grinded his teeth, “And how long do you suppose that will take?”

Eve spared Villanelle a glance, suddenly feeling as if this wasn’t a conversation to be had in front of a student. “No more than an hour or so, I promise.” She smiled. Her husband looked as if he had something more to say, something along the lines of ‘I knew this would happen’, but luckily the bell interrupted them before he could say anything. 

___

The class which Eve actually taught Villanelle and the group of seniors in her age range came next, the small group of almost adults took less than a glance at Eve before plopping themselves onto the ground and continuing their conversations. 

The English teacher wondered if this was what ghosts felt like, as if they were being looked through instead of at. 

“Um.. welcome-” she tried to interject but the group seemed to not hear her. 

“Guys-” she interjected again, a little louder and with a frustrated tone. No luck. 

Eve looked at all the faces, some she vaguely recognized from their freshman year. The only one listening was Villanelle in the corner of the group. Okay.. she would try again, “We-”

“Will you all just SHUT UP?!” Villanelle let out abruptly, russian accent breaking on the last few words and startling the entire class. 

There was something in the way Villanelle’s eyes met Eve’s then, as if they were passing energies in an indescribable way. It was as if Villanelle was truly looking at her soul. 

“Thank you Ms. Vasiliev. Now, as many of you may remember, my name is Mrs. Polastri. I think I see some familiar faces, but I want you all to look around. See how many of you there are left.” There was some uncomfortable shifting between the ten or so kids in the room. 

“This is Advanced Literature, I’m sure there were many of you your freshman year but now there's less than half standing. You’re the best this school has to offer. So I want you to act like it. Now as most of you know, I am Mrs. Polastri. I- yes?” Eve was interrupted by a hand raising lazily in the front of the group.

The kid, a boy with curled brown hair and a look in his eyes that already ticked her off. “Uh yeah, where’s Jess?”

“Mrs.. uhm” Why couldn’t Eve remember her last name?

“Just call her by her first name, we all do. She allows it.” The boy interrupted again. Growing annoyed, Eve took a deep breath. “ _ Jess _ ,” she said pointedly, “was fortunate enough to get pregnant over the summer so she took my position as counselor for the year so she can have her child.”

“Now if anyone has any more questions they can ask me after attendance. Start with you. Go.” She gestured to the boy again who stared blankly at her.

“You’re serious? I was in your class freshman year! You made my schedule every year!” He complained. Eve only nodded in his direction again with a shrug.

After another awkward pause Pretty boy muttered, “My name’s Hugo Tiller.”

“Geraldine Stowton,” a fair looking girl behind him chimed. Eve stopped, “You’re Kenny’s sister?” she asked, to which the girl turned bright red and nodded sheepishly. 

More names sounded from the kids before her. More names like Nadia, and Diego. There was a boy holding Villanelle’s hand when she finally focused on the pair, his name was Sebastian. The boyfriend, Eve presumed. 

“Alright well, over the next month or so we are going to be reading George Orwell’s  _ 1984 _ . You are to have a copy of your book in your possession by next Monday, are we clear?” There were some nods from around the room. “Good. Now you may use the rest of your time to catch up. I’ll be in my office if you need me.”

___

Eve walked through her front door at half past four, utterly exhausted but feeling more fulfilled than she had in a long time. 

“Mama!” Ali chimed from her spot in front of her kitchen playset, turning to charge in her direction. “Hello there lovebug,” Eve smiled, bending down to catch her child and place her on her hip. The blonde child instantly dug a hand in her mother’s hair. 

“Psst! Daddy has a friend over,” Ali whispered into her ear. Eve paused, a friend? He hadn’t said anything earlier about someone coming over for dinner. The asian woman smiled anyway, “Oh he does? Let’s go see then shall we?”

Carrying her daughter down the hallway Eve found herself following the sounds of quiet laughter all the way into the kitchen where Niko was seated next to a younger woman with light brown hair. “Oh hello,” Eve greeted a bit too loudly, eyes wide at the site of her husband and another woman. 

“Eve!” the woman gleamed, while Niko took his time to actually turn and look at her. Still mad, it seemed. “Hello honey,” Niko chimed, although his smile didn’t quite meet his eyes. 

“Who’s this Niko?” Eve asked, not too unkindly, setting little Alice down with a pat on her head. 

“This is Gemma- she’s another English teacher at our school actually. I saw her on my way to pick up dinner and invited her over-” he explained with a shrug of his shoulders. “Yeah! I teach in your department actually, my classroom is right across from Niko’s! Isn’t that great?” Gemma marveled, her large doe eyes actually sparkling at the words. 

No. It wasn’t great. 

Eve stared blankly. “I’m sorry, I’ve never seen or heard about you before,” she shrugged.

“Oh I must have mentioned Gemma here, I talk about her all the time,” Niko tried to save, but Eve didn’t want to hear it. He brought another woman into their home!

“You haven’t and he doesn’t.” Eve said, staring right at the young English teacher. 

Once Eve had decided enough damage had been made, she reached over the counter for the styrofoam box of pad thai. “I’m going to go eat in the office. I’ve had a… bizarre day.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Please feel free to leave kudos and comment below! 
> 
> I read every single comment and welcome all tips and theories! Who is Villanelle and why is she so important? Let me know what you think!
> 
> I'm lolnothanksfam on tumblr, feel free to message me there!


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